Off the Beaten Track

I had finally managed to get off about six shots when my dive buddy nearly tugged my right arm off. Turning his way to see what all the fuss was about, I saw him frantically gesturing and pointing upwards. Glancing up, I was confronted with a spectacle that every diver dreams of, but few ever experience. Floating no more than 15 feet above our heads was a giant manta ray performing an underwater ballet of loops and rolls. Its enormous wings propelled it effortlessly through the water, while its cavernous mouth gathered in a feast of plankton and thimble jellies.

My heart was pounding with excitement as I raised my camera. Then it hit memy first manta sighting in two years and my camera was set up for macro in
stead of wide-angle. All I could do was watch until the magnificent creature disappeared into the blue abyss. Oh well, back to that pesky shrimp.

My experience is one of the many reasons why the Turks & Caicos Islands are making big news in the diving world.

Located about 570 miles southeast of Miami, the Turks and Caicos Islands are made up of eight main islands and 40 cays. The chain contains one of the most extensive coral reef systems in the world (85 miles wide and 200 miles long). The 22 mile-wide and 7,000 foot deepTurks Island Passageseparates the Turks from the Caicos Islands and serves as a major transit point for migrating humpback whales, spotted eagle rays, manta rays, turtles and dolphins. Each year between December and April, 2,500 Atlantic humpbacks pass through this passage on their annual migration to the Mouchoir Bank, 30 miles to the southeast.

With year 'round visibility pushing 200 feet, pristine reefs, exceptional walls, abundant tropical flora and fauna, frequent pelagic encounters and quality diving services, the Turks and Caicos Islands have become a world class diving destination. To ensure they remain at the top of every divers wish list, the government has set aside vast areas of the reef system as protected marine parks and installed mooring buoys at more than 60 dive sites.

The island chain is arranged around the edges of two large marine plateaus separated by the Turks Island Passage. The Turks Bank lies east of the passage and contains the islands of Grand Turk, Salt Cay and Gibbs Cay which dot its western rim. To the west of the passage lies the Caicos Bank and the chains major islands of Providenciales (Provo), East, West, Middle and North Caicos and French Cay.

My favourite sites are located along the western edge of the Caicos Bank on the western shores of Provo, French Cay and West Caicos islands. The amazing wall formations of Provo's Northwest Point Marine Park, have a well developed spur and grove system with thick fingers of coral sloping down from 30-60 feet before dropping straight down to a number of chimneys which start around 90 feet and open up at 130. The walls are laden with thick clusters of multi-colored sponges and gorgonians and the deep waters offer frequent encounters with blacktip and reef sharks, spotted eagle rays, mantas and turtles that patrol the walls.

West Caicos, a one hour boat ride to the southwest, is a focal point for Provo-based divers and live-aboard dive vessels. Its two-mile long wall, Elephant Ear Canyon, runs along the western shore and offersyou guessed itthe largest elephant ear sponges so far discovered in the Turks & Caicos. One measuring ten-and-a-half feet in diameter is found at 95 feet.

Mature formations of yellow and purple tube sponges, as well as antler sponges wrapped in cloaks of brilliant rope sponges line the wall which starts at 50-60 feet and drops steeply to 2,000. It is also a great place to see cruising blacktip sharks and mantas.

Remote and tiny French Cay lies 90 minutes by boat to the south of Provo. It can only be visited under ideal weather conditions which makes it one of the least visited sites in the chain.

There is a sensational 100-foot wall dive at G-Spot and French Cay Shallows with its 20-40 foot swim-throughs offer some of the best macro encounters in the Caribbean. Because it gets much less traffic the marine life here is spectacular and approachable. On any given dive you can encounter anything from a rare lined seahorse to 20-foot whale sharks, mantas, platoons of eagle rays, 100 lb groupers, fat lobsters, and a wide variety of sponges and gorgonians.

Although the Turks & Caicos provide "off-the-beaten-track" diving, two new great family dive resorts (Beaches and Allegro) and direct flights from Toronto have made them more accessible.

For more information contact your local travel agent or Signature Vacations (www.signaturevacations.com or 416-967-1510) or Turks & Caicos Tourism (www.turksandcaicostourism.com or 1-800-241-0824).

Left: Seahorse photographed at French Cay Shallows. Right: Golden tail moray.

Canadian Travel writer/photographer and certified PADI instructor, Michael DeFreitas has specialized in adventure travel for more than 17 years. Michael's topside and underwater adventures have taken him to 40 countries and his work has graced the pages of dozens of North American and International publications. He uses Nikon equipment to capture all his topside and underwater images. "After trying a number of different underwater camera systems, I find that versatility of Nikon F90X cameras housed in clear plastic Ikelite housings with powerful Ikelite strobes, is the combination that works best for me," says Michael. In his spare time he teaches underwater photography.